Cam mechanism for rotary knitting machines



June 1 I926.

' 1,587,347 a. MURPHY ET AL CAM MECHANISM FOR ROTARY KNITTING MAQHIRES Filed March 1/ 1923 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 1 1926.

G. MURPHY Er AL CAM MECHANISM FOR ROTARY KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filgcl March 1, 1923 Inventor." w

Patented June 1, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,587,347 PATENT OFFICE.

GILBERT MURPHY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND W ALTER A. SIMONI), OF FRANKLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNORS T0 ACME KNITTING MACHINE & NEEDLE COMPANY, OF FRANKLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, A CORFORATION 0F NEVI HAM]?- SHIRE.

CAM MECHANISM FOR ROTARY KNITTING MACHINES.

Application filed March 1 1923. Serial No. 621,995.

This invention relates to circular hosiery knitting machines. The invention is especially concerned with machines of this type which are adapted to fashion the heel and toe of a stocking automatically, to knit either plain or ribbed work, and to shift :mtomatically from one of said styles of knitting to the other.

In machines of this type it is often desirable. to knit a stocking having a plain foot with a leg that is ribbed for its entire length. When such a stocking is knit from the toe upwardly, the machine is required to change automatically from plain to ribbed work immediately after the heel has been completed. A considerable tension is mainained on the knitted web by the usual takeup mechanism, and this tension is relied upon to assist the sinkers in shedding the stitches from the needles. During the greater part of the knitting operation this arrangement works entirely satisfactory, but when the machine changes from plain to ribbed work immediately after a heel pouch or pocket has been formed, the presence of this heel pocket prevents the transmission of the usual tension from the web takeup to those needles which are working immediately above the heel pocket. In other words, the loops held by the latter needles are not tensioned as much as are the other loops, and this results in irregular knitting and, in some cases, in the failureof the dial needles to cast off their stitches. After the machine has knit a web of two or three inches in length immediately above the heel pocket, this difficulty disappears, but the presence of this slack portion in the web is very troublesome while the first few courses are being knit immediately above the heel.

This difficulty has long been recognized, and a great many mechanisms have been proposed for acting locally on the web to pull out the loose or slack fabric in the heel pocket. Most of these mechanisms comris auxiliary or supplemental takeups and some means for controlling their action on the fabric.

The present invention has for its chief object to avoid the use of supplemental or auxiliary takenps of the character just described, and to devise a cam mechanism which will so operate the needles that they will effectually shed their stitches notwithstanding the presence of a loose or slack I portion in the fabric.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical cross sectional View of the needle cylinder, dial and adjacent parts of a machine constructed in accord ance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the dial and dial cam used in the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are development elevations of a portion of the cam mechanism of the machine shown in Fig. 1, certain of the cams being shown in different positions in the two views; and

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 5 5, Fig. 3.

The invention is herein disclosed as embodied in the machine shown and described in our copending application Serial No. 546,563, filed March 25,1922. This machine is a development of the knitting machine shown in the Hemphill Patent No. 620,503. That is, it includes all of the circular knittin mechanism of the Hemphill machine, with a dial mechanism added thereto and suitable means for automatically operating the dial cams. In the present machine the mounting of the cylinder needles, the cam mechanism for operating them and the pattern mechanism for controlling the sequence of operations of the machine, are all substantially as shown and described in the Hemphill patent above designated, certain changes in the cam mechanism only, which will be hereinafter de- .eribed, having been made. It has been considered unnecessary to show the entire machine in the drawings of this application, onlythe cylinder, dial and adjacent mechanism being illustrated.

The machine shown comprises a station ary needle cylinder 2 mounted on the upper end of a web guide 4 and carrying a circular series of cylinder needles 3. A cam ring 5 is mounted, to rotate around the needle cylinder 2 and is driven by a bevel gear 6 secured on a main shaft 7. All these parts are constructed. arranged and operated 0X- actlv as they are in tlie Hemphill machine above referred to. The machine also includes a dial 81 mounted at the upper end of the cylinder 2 and supporting a series of dial needles 9. These needles are operated by suitable cams supported in a dial cap 19 which is secured to a yoke 12 supported by brackets that are mounted on the cam ring The needle dial is supported by a dial post 14 and a mechanism (not shown) cooperates with the upper end of said postto hold it against rotation, so that the dial remains stationary and occupies a fixed relationship to the cylinder 2. The construction and operation of this dial mechanism and the parts that cooperate therewith is fully disclosed in pending application Serial No. 293,113 filed April 28, 1919.

The cam mechanism for operating the dial needles is best shown in Fig. 2. It comprises a front cam 15 which is adjustable about a pivot 16 into either an inner, outer or intermediate position. It is shown in F 1g. 2 in its outermost position where it projects the dial needles 9 into position to take the yarn or thread. This cam mechanism also includes a rear cam 17 which is adjustable similarly to the front cam 15. In addition, the dial cam mechanism comprises certain fixed parts which cooperate with the two cams mentioned to move the dial needles in the desired path, and it also includes a stitch cam 18 having a point 19 which draws the needles 9 inwardly, after they have taken the thread, far enough to make them cast off the secondary loops which they hold. The needles at this time, of course, still retain the new loops of thread which they have just taken and which will be cast off when these needles pass the stitch point 19 the. next time.

The cylinder needles 3 take the thread substantially simultaneously with the dial needles and at about the point where the butts of the needles pass over the high point of the cam 20, Figs. 3 and 4. The needles then pass under the stitch cam 21 and cast off their loops just before they pass the lowermost point of this cam. These cylinder needles were subsequently raised again by an end cam 22, Figs. 3 and f.

It will be observed that the cylinder needles cast their loops very quickly after they have taken the thread, while the dial needles do not cast their loops until considerably later. The casting of the loops by both sets of needles is facilitated by the sinkers and the tension which is exerted on the knit web by the takeup mechanism.

In the knitting of plain circular work all the cylinder needles are in operation, the machine operating at this time exactly like the machine of the Hemphill patent, and all the dial needles being held out of action through the adjustment of the cams that control them. When the machine is on reciprocating work as in making the heel or toe pocket of a stocking, half the cylinder needles are thrown out of action and the narrowing and widening operations are performed by gradually reducing the number of needles in operation and subsequently increasing this number in a predetermined manner. The manner in which this opera tion is effected is clearly disclosed in the Hemphill machine. For the purposes of the present application it is merely necessary to say that the pattern mechanism of the machine effects the shift from circular to reciprocating work, or vice versa, through mechanism which actuates a heel and toe lever 24,-, Fig. 1, causing this lever to raise a slide 25 having a ring 26 secured to its upper end and encircling the web guide ti. This slidable ring actuates a cam which throws half the needles out of operation when reciprocating knitting is to be initiated and restores these needles to action again when the ring 26 is lowered at the end of the period of reciprocating knitting and when circular knitting is to be resumed. The dial cams 15 and 17 are adjusted through automatic means including a latch and lever mechanism under the control of the pattern mechanism, as fully described in the pending applications above referred to.

o have found that the failure of the dial needles to cast off their stitches when they are thrown into operation immediately after a heel or toe pocket has been completed and the tendency to produce irregular work at this time, can be obviated by the use of a cam which will prevent the cylinder needles from rising in their grooves while the dial needles cast off their stitches. The explanation for this appears to be that the cylinder needles, by being' held down, exert sufficient tension on the stitches held by the dial needles to enable them to shed the stitches effectually as the dial needles are drawn back by the stitch cam.

According to the present invention, the end cam usually located just at the right of the stitch cam 21 in the Hemphill machine moved still further toward the right and into the position 22, Figs. 3 and l. A very small cam 28 is located at the point where the toe of the end cam formerly was located, this cam 28 being of sufficient height to raise the cylinder needles only far enough, after they have cast off their stitches, to relieve some of the strain on the stitches. These needles are then left free for a short distance so that if there is still excessive strain on the stitches, the needles can rise in their grooves sufficiently to relieve this strain still further. The butts of these needles next pass under a guard cam 30 which has been provided by this invention. 'At this time the cam 30 is in the position shown in Fig. t, and while the butts of the cylinder needles are travelling under it, the dial needles are drawn back by the stitch cam 18 and shed their loops. The cam 30 thus prevents the cylinder needles from rising above a certain height while the dial needles are casting off their stitches, and the complete casting of the loops from the dial needles is thus ensured for the reasons above described. In case any of the needles have been lifted too high their butts will strike the bevelled left-hand end of the guard cam and be depressed by this cam into the desired position. Subsequen'tly, the butts of the cylinder needles strike the end cam 22 and are raised into their elevated positions.

So long as the machme is knitting circular work, the cam parts shown in Fig. 4 re main in the relative positions in which they are shown in said figure. lVhen the shift is being made from circular to reciprocating knitting, however, the butts of the cylinder needles are lifted into various elevations between their upper and lower levels and it is necessary, therefore, to move the guard cam into such a position that it cannot strike any of these butts. For this purpose the guard cam is secured to a part 31 which is fastened to a slide 32' having a vertical stem 33 that projects through the cam ring 5 and has a foot 3 secured thereto and running in the groove of the ring 26, previously referred to. The ring 26 normally is in its lowered position, as shown in Fig. 1, so that its con nections with the guard cam 30 hold this cam normally in its lowered or operative po sition as illustrated in Fig. 4. When the machine shifts from circular to reciprocating work, however, the ring 26 is raised, as above described, thus lifting the guard cam 30 into a position above the range of travel of the butts of the operating cylinder needles. T he guard cam is held in this position so long as the machine reciprocates, but when it is about to resume circular knitting again the ring 26 is lowered, thus retuming the guard cam 30 to its initial position. The guard cam therefore is held in its operative position at all times except during reciprocating knitting, and at this timeit is held above the path of travel of the butts of the needles which are knitting.

So long as the machine is knitting circular work, it is not essential that the cylinder needles be lifted to their elevated positions as soon as they have passed the stitch cam 21, but it is essential in reciprocating knitting that the needles be returned to their upper positions immediately after they have been depressed by the stitch cam. For this reason a movable end cam 35 is secured to, or is formed integral with, the slide 32. Durwork of said styles of knitting to the other, the

ing circular work this movable end cam is held down below the path of travel of the needles, as shown in Fig. 4:, so that it is inoperative at this time. hen the machine changes to reciprocating work, however, this cam is raised into itsupper or operative position, as shown in Fig. 3, where its left-hand edge 36 will raise the needles into an elevated position immediately after they have been depressed by the stitch cam 21. Comparing this cam mechanism for actuating the cylinder needleswith that in the Hemphill machine, it will be observed that during reciprocating work theneedles are operated exactly as they are in the Hemphill machine, but during circular knitting the cylinder needles are not raised after they pass the stitch cam as soon as they are in the Hemphill machine. That is, they are not lifted until they strike the cam 22. In other respects the cylinder needles are operated in this machine exactly as they are in the Hemphill machine.

it will thus be evident that the present invention provides a machine having all the advantages of the Hemphill machine, together with those contributed by the inventions described in the pendin applications above designated, and in addition it elimi nates, through the use of the guard cam 30, any necessity for supplemental or auxiliary takeup mechanisms with the automatic means required to control such mechanisms. Not only, therefore, is the construction of the mo chine simplified, but, in addition, we find that this cam mechanism produces more uniform work than can be produced through t ie use of supplemental or auxiliary takeups.

Having thus described our invention, what we desire to claim as new is:

1. In a rotary knitting machine adapted to knit either plain, ribbed, or reciprocating and to change automatically from one combination of a cylinder, a dial, needles mounted in said cylinder and dial, instrumentalities for operating said needles, said instrumentalities including a guard cam for limiting the upward movement of the cylinder needles while the dial needles cast oil their stitches, and means for automatically moving said guard cam into and out of its operative position.

in a rotary knitting machine adapted to knit either plain, ribbed, or reciprocating work and to change automatically from one of said styles of knitting to the other, the combination of a cylinder, a dial, needles mounted in said cylinder and dial, instrumentalities for operating said needles, said instrumentalities including a guard cam for limiting the upward movement of the cylin der needles while the dial needles cast ofi' their stitches, and mechanism for automatically moving said guard cam into its operative position for circular ribbed knitting and out of said position for reciprocating knitting.

3. In a rotary knitting machine adapted to knit either plain, ribbed, or reciprocating work and to change automatically from one of said styles of knitting to the other, the combination of a cylinder, a dial, needles mounted in said cylinder and dial, instrumentalities for operating said needles, said instrumentalities comprising cam mechanism including a stitch cam and an end cam for raising said cylinder needles after they have passed the stitch cam, and means for automatically moving said end cam into and out of its operative position.

4. In a rotary knitting machine adapted to knit either plain, ribbed, or reciprocating work and to change automatically from one of said styles of knitting to the other, the combination of a cylinder, a dial, needles mounted in said cylinder and dial, instrumentalities for operating said needles, said instrunientalities including a stitch cam and an end cam for raising said cylinder needles after they have passed the stitch cam in one direction, said end cam being mounted for movement into and out of its operative position, a member arranged to be moved automatically to effect the shift from circular to reciprocating knitting, or vice versa, and connections between said member and saidend cam for automatically moving said end cam from one of said positions to the other when said .shift occurs.

In a rotary knitting machine adapted to knit either plain, ribbed, or reciprocat ing work and to change automatically from one of said styles of knitting to the other, the combination of a cylinder, a dial, needles mounted in said cylinder and dial, instrumentalities for operating said needles, said instrumentalities including a guard cam for limiting the upward movement of the cylinder needles while the dial needles cast off their stitches and an end cam connected with said guard cam for movement therewith, and mechanism for automatically moving said cams into and out of their operative positions.

6. In a rotary knitting machine adapted to knit either plain, ribbed, circular, or reciprocating work and to change automatically from one of said styles of knitting to the other. the combination of a cylinder, a dial, needles mounted in said cylinder and dial, instrumentalities for operating .said needles, said instrumentalities including a guard cam for limiting the upward move inent of the cylinder needles While the dial needles cast off their stitches, means supporting said guard cam for movement into and out of its operative position, a member ar ranged to be moved automatically to effect the shift from circular to reciprocating knitting, and vice versa, and connections between said membcr and said cam for antomatically moving said cam from one of said positions to the other when said shift occurs.

7. In a knitting machine adapted to knit either plain, ribbed, circular or reciprocating work and to change automatically from one of said styles of knitting to another, the combination of a needle cylinder, a dial, needles in said cylinder and dial, supporting means for said cylinder and dial, a ring carrying cams for operating said cylinder needles, a slide mounted for vertical movement in said ring, a guard cam, mounted on said slide and operative to limit the upward movement of the cylinder needles while the dial needles cast off their stitches, an end cam also mounted on said slide and operative to raise the cylinder needles after they have passed the stitch point in one direction in reciprocating knitting, a member arranged to be moved automatically to effect the shift from circular to reciprocating knitting, or vice versa, and connections between said member and said slide for moving said slide when said shift occurs to carry said cams into or out of their operative positions.

8. In a knitting machine adapted to knit either plain, ribbed, circular or reciprocat ing work and to change automatically from one of said styles of knitting to another, the combination of a stationary needle cylinder, a stationary dial, needles in said cylinder and dial, supporting means for said cylinder and dial, a cam ring mounted to rotate around said cylinder, a slide mounted for vertical movement in said ring, an end cam and a guard cam mounted on said slide, a vertically slidable normally stationary ring mounted below said cam ring, connections for raising or lowering said slidable ring automatically when the machine shifts from circular to reciprocating work or vice versa, and connections between said slidablc ring and said slide for moving said cams into or out of their operative positions automatically when said shift is effected.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed this specification.

GILBERT MURPHY. UH/PER A. SIMOND. 

